Marvin Gaye’s ‘Grandchildren’ on ‘X Factor?’ Family Wants DNA Proof!

*Uh oh. What have we here? It seems the family of the late Marvin Gaye has grown overnight.

Now he’s got three grandchildren nobody knew about. Well, if true, we guess somebody knew, just not the somebodies closest to him.

“There are allegations going around that my brother Marvin had another son,”Zeola Gaye, Marvin’s youngest sibling tells EURweb’s Lee Bailey in an exclusive interview. Apparently, the girl group RoXxy Montana, who made their TV debut recently on Simon Cowell’s show, “X Factor,” claim heritage to the icon.

“My allegations,” she continues, “and I’m speaking for the family also, is that these allegations are definitely unsubstantiated…We give no credence to it; they are rumors as far as we’re concerned.”

Zeola says that she doesn’t want the media to basically run rampant with this rumor; and put it out there as if it’s a fact.

“What I want to know is has anyone taken a DNA test?, she asks. “And if they have not taken a DNA test, are they willing to take a DNA test? Once that’s done then, and only then, can we stop all the speculation and know the truth…As of September 17th, I only know of two sons that my brother Marvin had which was Marvin Gaye, III and Frankie Gaye. So I want to put a stop, an arrest to all these rumors. We need to get a retraction from them once the truth comes out.”

Zeola, who recently closed a successful tour of the play, “Zeola Gaye’s My Brother Marvin,” based on the life of Marvin Gaye, says that if after the test is done, the young women turn out to indeed be the children of Marvin’s son, the family will embrace them with “open arms.” She does add, however, that she does not believe the relation to be “a fact as of now.”

Many who have kept up with the Gaye family drama, first exposed in Zeola Gaye’s book about her brother, then the play, and the reaction by Marvin’s ex-wife, Janis, to both – may find it, er, how to say this, “interesting” that Zeola Gaye positions herself to be the spokesperson for the entire Gaye/Gay family. Well, the reality is that Zeola is not speaking for Jan Gaye and her kids, but her immediate side of the Gaye family which includes her (Zeola), her sister Jeanne and Marvin Gaye III.

Zeola Gaye

When asked if the RoXxy Montana girls have identified who their father is supposed to be, or who the son is supposed to be, Zeola responds,

“I believe his name is, has been looked up, but I can’t tell it to you right now because I don’t know it…They’re going by because he favors Marvin. They claim they have letters – I need to see the letters. I need to see, I know Marvin’s handwriting you know.”

Zeola says if this were the case, and they were her brother’s children, because he loved kids so much, this is not something he would have kept hidden. She is emphatic that he would have told her. She also says she is a bit leery about the timing of this news, and wonders if it is to boost ratings for The “X Factor.”

“I don’t know, it all seems to be coming at a really great opportunity for them, for the RoXxy Montana group,” she states bemusingly.

“And when I say I’m speaking for the family you know, my sister, (Marvin III), you know, we’re all in agreement with this. We need to know.”

LB wonders if the headlines that suggest the girls ‘downplayed’ their relation to Marvin Gaye makes any difference to ‘the family.’

“Now as far as I know,” Bailey clarifies, “they seem to not be promoting that they are Marvin Gaye’s grandchildren. They said that they want to ‘shine on their own merits’ – their own talents; and want to keep the information about Marvin in the background. Does that make any difference?”

“No it don’t make a difference, Lee. I just want to know for a fact. It’s disturbing that the media is saying that they are. They are not saying ‘allegedly they may be’ you know. They’re saying that they are.”

The question most likely on many minds now becomes, if RoXxy Montana didn’t break the news of this claim, who did? How did it even become an issue?

“I hadn’t read anything that they actually quoted,” Zeola states in regard to RoXxy Montana, but adds, “But they’re not denying it either.”

Zeola Gaye is hoping that through this article, where she says she is “putting it out there,” the girls will reach out to the family and agree to have a DNA test performed.

“I have no problem being swabbed. My sister has no problem being swabbed, or any of the other family members. Let’s just do that,” she states. “And I’m hoping that this is publicized and that they will reach back out and say, ‘Ok Zeola, we would like to do this.’

If this does not happen, and RoXxy Montana makes no attempt to contact the family to initiate a test, Zeola feels that too, will be an admission.

And no one has to guess what that is.

On the clip below we get to see a bit of the girls’ personality prior to their X Factor audition, the actual audition, and the aftermath. As is the case with many Hollywood hopefuls, you can see that they are definitely hungry for the attention. EURweb readers, we know you will weigh in. What say ye?

DeBorah B. Pryor is a Los Angeles-based writer who teaches courses on public speaking. One of her communications classes, “How to Talk to Anybody” begins on October 2nd. Visit www.dpryorpresents.com or contact her via email at [email protected] for more info.

16 Responses

I don’t know if they are Marvin’s grand daughter or not, they can sing allright but they are making themselves a target for being eliminated early once the audience starts voting because many will feel they have a huge advantage over the other contestants who do not have famous musical legends in their family, these talent competitions voting tabulations are suspect imo anyway.

Not sure if they’re related to Mr. Gaye or not, but you can see that what Simon said to them– about the one being more talented than the other two–particularly affected the one on the left in the gray dress. Watch the tape and you can see that after he said that, she was never the same. Even after the judges have all given them a big thumbs up, when they’re walking down the steps, exiting the stage, it’s easy to see that she is hurt. Shame on you, Simon.

Zeola is full of BULLCRAP! She or her publicist broke this story. These girls (RoXxy Montana) in NO WAY are trying to ride Marvin Gaye’s coat tail. She claims she doesn’t know who the son of Marvin is, but yet, knows about the letters and other documents. Furthermore, how do you even know about the letters and documents if you haven’t already spoken to them? To keep it real, Marvin Gaye is NOT the only celebrity singer these girls are related to. So, Zeola, you need to go have several seats somewhere and stop putting it out there that these girls are trying to gain any type of fame off of ANYONE including Marvin Gaye!

These two older sisters are aged 30 and 31 yet they lied to Simon onstage. They messed up when the said they have been trying for a very long time and Simon asked again…….what are your ages? They have been around for a very long time in NYC breaking relationships with managers etc.! They are def….trash and Simon will have to cut a big pay-check to all managers they currently have contracts with in NYC!!! HAHAHAHAH

I had not heard of this until this interview. In my opinion if any one is exploiting her brother it’s Zeola I saw the play my brother Marvin. It pissed me off. It seemed like a way to make a quick buck off her dead brother to me especially when I found out this wasn’t the first time she had put it out there. Then I read how she was the only one to visit her father in jail but invited Jet magazine along. Marvin took care of his whole family while he was alive while he could and I think it’s time Zeola got off the gravy train. She appears to be very shady to me. Maybe I’m still mad at the fact that his music wasn’t included in the play but she didn’t state the fact that it wouldn’t be until after the show with that please be sorry for me sob story about how she couldn’t get the rights to use it but you knew that before you put the tickets on sale and potential ticket buyers should have had that information at the time of purchase, not at the end of the play.

I liked the girls and wish them well. I don’t mean to be rude, but some comments above are confusing and silly; I do know that the girls never tried to push their Marvin link story forward, not on camera anyway! Maybe somebody is playing games.

Follow Us

Who We Are

The news you want – unfiltered. The Electronic Urban Report/EUR puts the most buzz worthy African American news at your fingertips. There is no more complete source for urban news than the Electronic Urban Report.